Prayer case draws interest from variety of groups

WASHINGTON – Patrick Medeiros, pastor of the Greece Assembly of God, knelt on a rubber gardening mat outside the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday.

The justices had just finished hearing oral arguments about whether the town of Greece violated the Constitution’s establishment clause by having mostly Christian clergy deliver opening prayers at Town Board meetings.

“Father, we ask God that you would grant your divine wisdom to reach each of the justices, Lord, as they make a final ruling on this case,” said Medeiros, who has delivered some of the opening prayers at the Town Board meetings.

Officials from the Faith and Action advocacy group knelt beside him, heads bowed.

“In your holy and precious son’s name, Jesus Christ, we pray, Amen,” Medeiros concluded, using the same kind of Christian references that sparked the court case.

As the group prayed, a smiling protestor in sunglasses stood close by, holding a placard proclaiming, “Hi Mom! I’m an Atheist.”

Wednesday’s oral arguments drew interest from a variety of groups.

The Obama administration even participated in the lawsuit, defending the longstanding practice — dating back to the country’s founding — of opening Senate and House sessions with a chaplain’s prayer.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., also attended Wednesday’s arguments.

“In the Florida state House, I often took time with my fellow state representatives to pray for the wisdom and discernment to properly serve our constituents,” Rubio said in a statement. “Now, every morning before debate commences in the U.S. Senate, we pause for prayer and reflection.”

After the arguments, lawyers waited patiently for their turn at microphones set up by the media outside the court.

They represented a variety of groups, including the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which supports the town of Greece, and the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, which argues that “official prayers at local government meetings violate the First Amendment and demeanreligious liberty.”

Town of Greece residents Susan Galloway and Linda Stephens, who filed the lawsuit against the town, also spoke.

Galloway, who is Jewish, said she felt the opening prayers at the monthly Town Board meeting were “overtly Christian in nature.”

“I feel that this town has aligned itself with Christianity by just having Christian prayer-givers,” Galloway said. “They have had a couple of other people, but primarily it’s Christian. As a citizen, I felt I was different because of my own faith and my religious beliefs.”

Asked if there was a middle ground on the issue, Stephens pointed out that the town of Greece began its Town Board meetings with a moment of silence until 1999.

Stephens, an atheist, said she has heard oral invocations elsewhere that she has “admired.”

She urged fellow atheists “to come out of the closet.”

“There are many, many of us, and we have to follow the lead of the LGBT community,’’ Stephens told reporters. “We have to make our voices heard. We can’t be shy about this because it’s important. We need to be involved in town government and government at all levels.”